The present invention relates generally to aircraft propulsion, and more particularly to airflow platforms disposed between adjacent rotor blades in aircraft engines.
A turbofan gas turbine engine used for powering an aircraft in flight typically includes, in serial flow communication, a fan assembly, a low-pressure compressor or booster, a high-pressure compressor, a combustor, a high-pressure turbine, and a low-pressure turbine. The combustor generates combustion gases that are channeled in succession to the high-pressure turbine where they are expanded to drive the high-pressure turbine, and then to the low-pressure turbine where they are further expanded to drive the low-pressure turbine. The high-pressure turbine is drivingly connected to the high-pressure compressor via a first rotor shaft, and the low-pressure turbine is drivingly connected to both the fan assembly and the booster via a second rotor shaft.
The fan assembly includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced-apart fan blades extending radially outwardly from a rotor disk. The fan blades generally comprise an airfoil section and an integral dovetail root section. The dovetail section is slidably received in a complimentary configured dovetail slot formed in the rotor disk so as to attach the blade to the rotor disk.
During engine operation, ambient airflow is channeled between the rotating blades and pressurized thereby generating thrust for powering the aircraft in flight. A radially inner flowpath boundary for the airflow channeled between the blades is provided by fan platforms located between adjacent fan blades. A platform is a small component which acts as a “filler” between two adjacent gas turbine engine fan blades. The outer surface of the platform defines a portion of the generally conical shape of the flowpath between the two fan blades. The platform is physically attached to the rotor.
One problem with prior art platforms is that they are assembled from a plurality of individual pieces, which in increases the complexity and labor required for installation.